I hear Shannon Best ignord a no kiteboarding sign and kiteboarded on a flat water pond on the back side of West Denis Beach, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. This area has nesting piping plovers, a protected and endangered species. Kitesurfing has been shut down at this prime kitesurf spot in the past because of concerns of this bird and kites. Kitesurfing is currently limited to a crowded 50 meter streatch of beach.

Rumors:
He was told it wasn't allowd
He said he was given the OK

Facts:
There's a sign that says no kiteboarding.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse to break it.

Questions:
If you were a visitor at a beach, there was a flat water pond with no one in it, and a small crowded place where people were kiting with choppy water, would you consider asking why no one was in the pond before going in? How many people would you ask?

If he was given the okay, who gave it to him? How many people did he have to ask before he was given the okay?

Apparently the two sides of the story don't match up and he was given the 'GO' to kite in the pond.

shannon phil is the only reason there is any kiting on the south shore of cape cod in season[memorial to labor day]. why would he be ambiguous as to whether you could ride the pond? he has gone through hours of negotiating with the town officials of dennis to secure access and prevent a hyannis type situation where no kiting is allowed.yes cape cod riders have to go through the frustration of seeing no-kiteboarding allowed posted along all the beaches.

your apology is empty if you slag off phil in the same sentence:

shannon said:

Phil, what everybody told me about you is now true. It is totally transparent what you are trying do and a shame that you have resorted to lying to cover your own ass. Grow up mate. Again to all the riders, sorry for the drama and IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m really sorry for having to put up with a phony like Phil.

marketing 101 the customer is always right, why are you adopting such an arrogant approach to someone that could end up distributing your product? all you had to do after this unfortunate incident is display some humility, apologize and move on. i live in the northeast and have been impressed by all the progress best has made with its 2006 product line. it is unfortunate that an ambassador for the sport and principal of the company has acted so ungraciously as a guest and has flaunted local rules that have taken hours of effort and negotiation by local kiters to put in place.

Phil, what everybody told me about you is now true. It is totally transparent what you are trying do and a shame that you have resorted to lying to cover your own ass. Grow up mate. Again to all the riders, sorry for the drama and IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m really sorry for having to put up with a phony like Phil.

wow, Shannon's really showing his true colors here. He kites the pond which is off limits b/c of federally protected endangered birds. By doing this he jeopardizes kiteboarding at one of the few south facing public beaches we can use in the summer. Then he slags off the person who has done more for kiteboarding in our area than anyone else. If he was truly "sorry for the drama" he wouldn't have stooped to this level.

Congratulations Shannon. If you were trying to do spin control with your apology you failed miserably and only made yourself look even worse.

Juror #1
ShannonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s story doesn't add up. I find it very difficult to believe that Phil, who has spent his own money, countless hours, and headaches to keep West Denis open for kitesurfing in the summer, would tell Shannon Best it was okay to kite there. Furthermore, if WD was closed it would be bad for Phil's business and make it very hard for him to get in an after work session.

I believe that Shannon found "a local" to tell him it was okay. But I imagine he had to ask a few people before he found a "yes man" to tell him so. Insinuating that Phil told you it was okay, is not believable. Furthermore, ignorance of the rules, is no excuse in my opinion.

As for the two "locals" that defended Shannon on the Best forum, they rarely kite at West Denis and would stick by Shannon like a Republican to George Bush or Richard Nixon. If you two are confused about the current regulations, ask. How would you feel if you managed to get kiting back at Kalmus and I went and kited next to the birds by the jetty or kited in the swimming area? Somehow I doubt you would accept my argument that the rules were too confusing. There were plenty of people at the beach that could have answered your questions, not to mention several signs, illustrating where it was okay to kite.

As for the photo of the pond, that was in the off-season when the birds are gone. The rules change with the season. You know this.

Also some posters on the Best Forum, don't seem to understand how serious the Piping Plover issue is. These bird people are very fanatical and have the law of the US government to back them up. Beachgoers can F)O*) up all they want. As much as the bird people would like to ban beachgoers, they don't have that power. But they have proven to have the power to ban kiting. The Town of Denis has gone out on a limb risking huge fines from the US government to allow kiting. Every year it takes a lot of work to keep the town from ending kiting.

So my question remains. Who exactly did Shannon ask? And what was their response? Did Shannon see the signs?

ShannonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s story and attitude stink. Your personal attack on Phil was totally irrelelvant to the topic at hand. It's a sign of weakness. It's an old political trick. When you're wrong or been caught, change the subject by attacking the accuser. From what I've read and heard, Shannon sounds like and arrogant prick that thinks because he's a third tier pro with a kite company named after him he can do whatever he wants.

Off topic, I was going to buy a Best board this week. I was just trying to decide between the Pro and the Drive model. Now I'm reconsidering.

i kite at West Dennis year round, and it would be devastating to lose access at that beach. The locals who kite there know the rules, and we all protect this spot by telling those that don't obey the rules what they're doing wrong. This is the only way we have a chance to maintain access there, as the local bird fanatics would like nothing more than to see us all banned.

Jimmyc and Phil are two guys who go out of their way to help kiters and do anything positive to promote the sport in this area, including getting involved w/the towns. Their reputations are solid in these parts, so when an outsider says/does things that contradict them, there is NO QUESTION around here about who's telling the truth.

If this is how Best Kiteboarding thinks a tour across the country should go, thats their perogative, but its something to think about next time you consider supporting these guys by buying their brand. BEWARE: the Best bus may be coming to your town!

We've had this occur where we kite although the signs weren't so clear as to where not to kite but we had a group of tourists kite in an area that they weren't supposed to. I wasn't there that day but locals did not inform the tourists where they could and could not kite and you guessed it they kited in the area they weren't supposed to and we got a temporary suspension for a week from kiting on that location. Ultimately we had only ourselves to blame because we were not diligent enough to inform the tourists and make it crystal clear, DO NOT KITE IN THIS AREA! People do what they want not what they are supposed to in recreation.